ABSTRACT
When difficult client behaviors arise, adventure therapists need to adjust appropriately. One critical element for working with difficult clients is to understand their behavior is typically directed not at you but at the emotions, thoughts, and actions they are changing. Remaining neutral, supportive, objective, and impartial in resolving difficult issues and times can often be a major source of assistance for clients when they need you the most.
For disruptive client behaviors, Priest, Gass, and Gillis (2009) created a stepwise flowchart illustrating a method for handling the various ways clients can disrupt adventure therapy experiences. This flowchart contains a series of four choices made by the adventure therapist and associated actions based on these choices. The first initial reaction to disruptive behavior is to hold a separate conversation with the disruptive client. Asking questions about the disruption and trying to understand what the client was thinking regarding the disruption provides enough information to decide what to do next. If the source of disruption is external to the group, encourage the client to take a timeout to sort out their concerns, with the contingency that you are available to help the client if they need assistance.
